March 15, 2013

The great cycle of life; pompous enough?

Writing at the end of the week is not easy. Everyone else has covered the difficulties of beginning or ending a book or series. However, I'm here to tell you that both have a way of reviving when least expected, so don't think that early work will ever be completely obliterated.

A few centuries ago, when I wrote my trilogy on Guinevere, I killed off everyone at the end. I was tired of all of the characters. So, what happened? I was asked to write prequels, sequels and spin-offs. I did do some short stories but at the time I felt I had said everything about the Arthurian world that I could. After thirty years, the darn things have never been out of print for more than a couple of years and are appearing again.

http://bellarosabooks.com/upcomingtitles.htm

Now, I'm grateful for this but I really think I could do a better job today and am thinking of telling the story from the point of view of Guinevere's parents, adrift in a dying society. As with actors, embarrassed about early films, early books have a way of coming back to haunt. Paul Newman (no relation, darn it) was always embarrassed by his film debut in The Silver Chalice .the silver chalice

On the other hand, ealy books are also like college photos, reminders of a time when I was young and had good knees and thought I could change the world. And I wonder what someone who didn't know me now would think of the woman captured on film way back then.

Beginnings? Endings? Not really. We just go round and round.

Sharan on a Friday, looking forward to beginning another week or maybe just living in perpetual weekend.

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Each time the books go around, they are different. The resurgence is even making you view them differently. I like the idea of telling the story from the parent's POV ... a new true beginning that sprouted from an old ending. It's never truly the same circle.

Going round and round... sounds like life to me! :-) I think it's great your books keeping re-emerging. And I agree with Pat... a story from the parents' POV sound intriguing!
Wishing you weekends that never end...

I agree with Ann. Why not just reboot the story, telling it from a different POV? Old college photos are things I usually avoid looking at. You've got more courage than I. Although I did find one where I still had my six pack. ;-)